
Each page offers a humorous feline version of a limerick or nursery rhyme. The rhythm of the verses has its occasional rough bits, so do a bit of preparation before you actually read the book aloud to a young audience. Children won’t notice the bumps if you read with plenty of gusto. They’ll be intent on looking at the brightly-coloured, jovial cartoon pictures of the various cats. This book would do well for a read-aloud in pre-school centres and new entrant classes.

Jo
van Dam is the librarian at two Auckland primary schools, so should have an excellent
knowledge of successful picture books. This is her first book. Myles Lawford is
a designer and illustrator who illustrated Scholastic NZ’s The Twelve Days of Kiwi Christmas in 2013. Together they have
produced a book to fascinate young dog lovers. Each letter of the alphabet
heads up a short humorous poem about a breed of dog - Affenpinscher, Boxer,
Chihuahua, Dalmatian, English Setter, Foxie - and so on. Would you believe there’s
even a dog for the letter X! The rhymes are bouncy and fun to read. The illustrations
were created in Adobe Photoshop so have a crisp and colourful appearance, with
some very appealing dog faces. Like the previous picture book, this is one that
would be good for reading aloud to groups of pre-schoolers or young primary
classes.
ISBN
978 1 77543 188 6 $19.50 Pb
Reviewed
by Lorraine Orman